99% of BMC South Nurses Vote to Authorize Strike Over Staffing and Benefit Cuts

Image: BMC Health System

Facing proposed cuts to staffing levels, retirement benefits, health insurance, and paid time off, registered nurses and healthcare professionals at Boston Medical Center (BMC) South, formerly Good Samaritan Medical Center, have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a possible three-day strike during ongoing contract negotiations with hospital leadership.

The nurses are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and are negotiating their first contract with BMC since the hospital was acquired following Steward Healthcare’s bankruptcy.

Strike Vote Results

According to the MNA:

• 99% of participating staff voted in favor of strike authorization
  
• 96% of eligible employees cast ballots
  
• Nearly 500 nurses and healthcare professionals are represented at BMC South

Represented professionals include registered nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, substance use counselors, and speech pathologists.

Union leaders emphasized that the vote does not mean a strike is scheduled. No date has been set, and any strike would require a 10-day advance notice.

Similar Vote at BMC Brighton

The vote follows a similar strike authorization in December at BMC Brighton, formerly St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. Both hospitals were formerly owned by Steward Healthcare and later taken over by Boston Medical Center.

Nurses at both campuses report facing nearly identical proposals related to staffing, wages, and benefits.

Staffing and Care Concerns

Nurses say proposed staffing changes would weaken existing protections and make it harder to safely care for patients.

Proposed changes include:

• Reductions to clinical pharmacist staffing on both day and night shifts
• Removal of staffing commitments in Interventional Radiology
• Eliminating designated Resource Nurse roles, converting them into floating positions

In January, more than 300 staff members, including physicians, signed a petition opposing the pharmacist cuts.

Benefits Under Negotiation

Pension

BMC has proposed eliminating access to the MNA’s defined benefit pension plan for employees not already enrolled. This would affect many current staff and all future hires. Nurses say the pension is a key retention tool, particularly in a female-majority workforce.

Health Insurance

• Out-of-pocket health insurance costs have increased for staff
• The MNA has filed federal labor charges, alleging changes were implemented without bargaining
• Nurses report difficulty finding in-network providers and long wait times for appointments

PTO

BMC is seeking to:

• Cap accrued vacation and sick time at lower levels
• Reduce accrual rates for future hires

Nurses say that in an understaffed hospital, these changes effectively reduce compensation when time off cannot be used.

Wages

BMC has proposed no wage scale increases for three years, except for a 1% annual increase for employees already at the top of their pay scale. Nurses say the proposal, combined with benefit reductions, could worsen recruitment and retention challenges. BMC says the proposal aims to maintain fiscal sustainability.

Allegations of Bad Faith Bargaining

The MNA has filed charges alleging that BMC:

• Implemented benefit changes without negotiation
• Failed to bargain in good faith
• Offered bonus pay to non-union staff while denying it to union members performing the same work

Why This Matters for Nurses

For nurses at BMC South and across Massachusetts, the situation reflects broader issues affecting bedside staff:

• Staffing pressure: Proposed cuts to pharmacists and resource nurses come as hospitals continue to struggle with vacancies and high patient volumes.
• Total compensation erosion: Frozen wages combined with higher insurance costs, reduced PTO, and pension changes can significantly reduce overall compensation even when base pay stays the same.
• Retention and experience: Nurses say benefit reductions make it harder to keep experienced staff at the bedside, which directly affects patient care and unit stability.
• Public accountability: BMC received hundreds of millions of dollars in state support to stabilize these hospitals, funding nurses say was meant to protect services and working conditions.

For unionized nurses, the vote also highlights how strike authorization is often used as leverage during negotiations, even when no immediate strike is planned.

State Funding and Hospital Takeover

The proposed cuts come after BMC received hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding to assume operations of former Steward hospitals.

Funding disclosed to the union includes:

• $387 million in guaranteed cash over five years
  
• $66 million paid by the state to acquire the St. Elizabeth’s property
• $140 million included to repurchase the Good Samaritan property
• A $60 million interest-free loan
  

This funding is in addition to ongoing government payments.

Contract Talks Continue

Negotiations between BMC South and the MNA began on October 15, 2025. Nurses say they remained at the hospital through years of instability, including hospital closures, fires, floods, and patient surges, and expected conditions to improve under new ownership.

Negotiations are ongoing, and no strike date has been announced.

Nurse.org will continue to update this article as more information becomes available.

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